Rapper Continues To Struggle With Serious Injury

Rapper Continues To Struggle With Serious Injury

An Atlanta hip-hop artist that has seen a meteoric rise to fame in only a few months faces an uncertain future, after the apparent loss of his right eye following a serious car crash last month.

Doctors are cautiously optimistic that they may be able to restore some function to OG Maco’s (Maco Mattrix) right eye. In a July car crash, the singer said he also sustained “multiple skull fractures, broken orbital (surgery next week), cracked vertebrae (surgery next week) and heart palpations.” Despite his injuries, OG Maco remains jovial. “On the bright side, my plastic surgeon says I can’t get any uglier so fixing my face should be easy,” he commented.

OG Maco had his first Top 100 single, “U Guessed It,” in August 2014, and an online video clip from the album has had nearly 50 million views.

Duty in Car Crash Cases

The first step towards obtaining compensation for injuries like these is to prove that a legal duty applied to the tortfeasor (negligent driver). In most cases, non-commercial drivers have a duty to act with reasonable care. This duty manifests itself in three different ways:

Behavioral: Before they start their engines, drivers have a legal duty to be sober, well-rested, and healthy. They must also be prepared to drive in conformity with any license restrictions, whether the restriction is wearing eyeglasses or driving only on side streets.

Operational: While they drive, motorists must follow “the rules of the road,” whether they are written or unwritten. To learn more about some of Georgia’s “rules of the road” click here.

Conditional: If there are less-than-ideal conditions, such as wet streets or dark skies, drivers must be even more careful than normal.

If the tortfeasor violated a traffic or other law, then the driver may also be liable under what is called “negligence per se”. Negligence per se effectively means that the driver violated a rule and that violation itself creates liability.

Bus drivers, truck drivers, limousine drivers, moving van drivers, and other drivers who transport people or things from one place to another for a fee are considered common carriers under Georgia law. These operators have a higher duty to their passengers. The higher duty starts the moment that passengers climb inside the vehicle, and lasts until they arrive safely at their destinations.

If the tortfeasor breached a legal duty, and that breach caused injury, the victim is entitled to compensation for both economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. In some situations, punitive damages are also available. For example, if a driver drove while drunk and caused an accident then that driver can be found liable for both compensatory and punitive damages. Punitive damages usually have a maximum cap on what can be recovered, but a good lawyer will know how to work around the cap if the circumstances and facts allow for it.

For prompt assistance with a car crash or other negligence claim, contact an assertive Atlanta personal injury attorney from Butler Law Firm today. Because you have a limited amount of time to act before your statute of limitations expires it is important you consult with a lawyer quickly. Click here to hear from the many clients we have helped.